My whole life I have been in search for "My Idol". I consider an idol as a guru; someone to look up to every time you find yourself in a dilemma. Thinking what he/she would have done in this situation and then doing the same. But well till now I haven't been successful in my search.
In my quest I have tried to focus on typical idols of other people in the hope to find my own idol there:
Actors: Majority of people love films; and they love their actors too. Their amazing display of charm and heroism just wins the heart and people go crazy just to get a glimpse of them. But everybody knows that in real life they are humans only. They take drugs, they fight, they bitch and do all kinds of unethical work just like an "Aam Aadami". So, why not choose a random Aam Aadami as an idol?
Sportspersons: People love sports and they worship their sports-persons. When I was a kid I wanted to become the next Sachin and I know many Indians especially budding cricketers still dream about it. But as with actors, does it make sense to make someone an idol just because he possess extraordinary talent? Well of course, Sachin is a great humbling personality and quite an idol material, but look at some of the cricketers and sportspersons in today's generation and you will find out a lot of arrogance in their behavior.
Teachers: Teachers shape our career. After may be family and friends, we spend most of our time with them (that is if you attend classes regularly :) So they are bound to influence our life. But unfortunately, I haven't been privileged to get too many teachers in my life who were devoted to their work and motivated to help students (For more, read: My Idea.. Of an Ideal Teacher). So, not much luck in this department too.
Parents: Heard many people saying they always look up to their parents for their hard-work and sacrifices. I respect their thoughts. My parents are no different. In fact, I have been luck enough to get an awesome joint family that have taken care of me since child hood, one after the another. But here the equation is a little bit reversed. They look up to me - to do well and become a role model for my younger siblings - rather than the other way around.
Politicians: Famously people claim to be influenced by the life of certain veteran politicians like Indira Gandhi, A.B.Vajpayee ji etc. I have heard about them, have seen a few of them. But my bad luck, that I am not much into politics to know a whole lot about them to consider them my idol.
Freedom Fighters: Like the above mentioned points, they also make very inspiring role models. There is Rani Laxmi Bai, Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi and numerous others. Here also, I should be pardoned to know only that much as my history books and TV taught me. Plus I would prefer to have a living idol, so as to learn by seeing them rather than reading (mostly obscured and incorrect) information from books and journals.
Business Icons: We all want to become successful in our careers. So it is but natural to be attracted towards business tycoons. People with rags to riches story. I won't lie, I have really been attracted by the life of Steven Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, and recently Mark Juckerberg et el. But when you look at the life of each of these personalities, you will find that they achieved success but in their own ways. They created their own destinies. So, of course I can learn a lot from their lives, the mistakes they made and the hard decisions they took, but having to choose one of them as an idol is really difficult if not impossible.
Others Famous Personalities: If you take a look around yourself, you will find there is hell lot of things to get inspired from. Writers, poets, coders, philosophers, God, kids, friends, elder siblings, ... But if the sole reason of having an idol is to get inspiration, do I really need an idol here?
Who says that we need have only one idol for inspiration? And if we have multiple idols, does the point of having an idol stand? In fact, I would ask, who says you have to make someone an idol in order to soak up the good things in their life?
It seems my search for an idol is futile. So, instead of searching for one, I should focus on becoming one, for someone.
In my quest I have tried to focus on typical idols of other people in the hope to find my own idol there:
Actors: Majority of people love films; and they love their actors too. Their amazing display of charm and heroism just wins the heart and people go crazy just to get a glimpse of them. But everybody knows that in real life they are humans only. They take drugs, they fight, they bitch and do all kinds of unethical work just like an "Aam Aadami". So, why not choose a random Aam Aadami as an idol?
Sportspersons: People love sports and they worship their sports-persons. When I was a kid I wanted to become the next Sachin and I know many Indians especially budding cricketers still dream about it. But as with actors, does it make sense to make someone an idol just because he possess extraordinary talent? Well of course, Sachin is a great humbling personality and quite an idol material, but look at some of the cricketers and sportspersons in today's generation and you will find out a lot of arrogance in their behavior.
Teachers: Teachers shape our career. After may be family and friends, we spend most of our time with them (that is if you attend classes regularly :) So they are bound to influence our life. But unfortunately, I haven't been privileged to get too many teachers in my life who were devoted to their work and motivated to help students (For more, read: My Idea.. Of an Ideal Teacher). So, not much luck in this department too.
Parents: Heard many people saying they always look up to their parents for their hard-work and sacrifices. I respect their thoughts. My parents are no different. In fact, I have been luck enough to get an awesome joint family that have taken care of me since child hood, one after the another. But here the equation is a little bit reversed. They look up to me - to do well and become a role model for my younger siblings - rather than the other way around.
Politicians: Famously people claim to be influenced by the life of certain veteran politicians like Indira Gandhi, A.B.Vajpayee ji etc. I have heard about them, have seen a few of them. But my bad luck, that I am not much into politics to know a whole lot about them to consider them my idol.
Freedom Fighters: Like the above mentioned points, they also make very inspiring role models. There is Rani Laxmi Bai, Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi and numerous others. Here also, I should be pardoned to know only that much as my history books and TV taught me. Plus I would prefer to have a living idol, so as to learn by seeing them rather than reading (mostly obscured and incorrect) information from books and journals.
Business Icons: We all want to become successful in our careers. So it is but natural to be attracted towards business tycoons. People with rags to riches story. I won't lie, I have really been attracted by the life of Steven Jobs, Dhirubhai Ambani, and recently Mark Juckerberg et el. But when you look at the life of each of these personalities, you will find that they achieved success but in their own ways. They created their own destinies. So, of course I can learn a lot from their lives, the mistakes they made and the hard decisions they took, but having to choose one of them as an idol is really difficult if not impossible.
Others Famous Personalities: If you take a look around yourself, you will find there is hell lot of things to get inspired from. Writers, poets, coders, philosophers, God, kids, friends, elder siblings, ... But if the sole reason of having an idol is to get inspiration, do I really need an idol here?
Who says that we need have only one idol for inspiration? And if we have multiple idols, does the point of having an idol stand? In fact, I would ask, who says you have to make someone an idol in order to soak up the good things in their life?
It seems my search for an idol is futile. So, instead of searching for one, I should focus on becoming one, for someone.
No comments:
Post a Comment